There’s an increasing interest in “dumbphones” these days, but it seems that options for a basic phone are fairly limited in the US market.<p>If you have switched, what did you switch to? If you’re looking to switch, what are you considering?
Last time I got a phone, which is a few years ago now, I looked up the cheapest shit flip phone walmart sells and went to the store with the model number. The guy I asked it for didn't even know they sold it but it was down in some closed stock case, it was model A117 I believe or something else really close to it and it was like $20. I must admit though, it is a step down in quality from my previous flip phone that finally died after it got ran over twice busting a corner and exposing a ribbon cable which eventually failed and killed the screen (likely from me fucking with it).<p>The downside is maps would be useful sometimes, especially once google cancelled their free text-for-directions service. On the upside, I don't have to charge it but once every few days and if I still got a good 12 hours of battery once it gets to the low mark.<p>My next phone I will probably do the same, and because im only spending 10-20 bucks, I figure if I don't like it enough I can easily get a new one. The one thing I would make sure is that you can use a microsd card to put a different ringtone, all the default tones are like the screeching of satan's dirty asshole.
Has anybody mentioned the Punkt MP-01?
<a href="https://www.punkt.ch/en/products/mp01-mobile-phone/" rel="nofollow">https://www.punkt.ch/en/products/mp01-mobile-phone/</a><p>I've had it for 2-3 years now and it's been pretty great. Granted service can be kinda spotty because it's 2G and I'm not sure how much longer it will be viable when 2G is phased out. It's also very expensive compared to dumb alternatives but I don't know of any other phone on the market that is so clean in terms of physical design and UX.<p>Punkt is making an MP-02 which will run on 4G I believe but I'm not sure if it will be as minimal. I think they're partnering with Blackberry to bring like secure email or messaging or something, which to me seems anti-dumphone, but I guess people expressed demand in a user survey...
I have a "dumb phone", which in the context of my post means a phone that does calling and texting, and does not have WiFi. It is a backup phone in case my main phone dies, so that I can continue to do two-step auth in certain situations.<p>What I ended up doing was going on Amazon, to their Cell Phone section, pulling up the list of unlocked phones, and limiting the search to $50 or less. That got me a BLU Tank model (which does not run Android, and was not one of the "sends data back to the manufacturer" models) for something like $25.<p>It's interesting, though, in that although my phone doesn't do apps, or email, it still supports multimedia (music, images, video, via a microSD card). Also (like, I understand, many phones mainly used in the APAC region) it has an FM tuner, and includes dual SIM support.<p>To be clear, though, this is just a backup phone. I keep it charged, and I turn it on once in a while, but I don't use it regularly. Still, redoing my Amazon search shows that there are alot of models to choose from!
Not sure if it qualifies as a dumbphone, but I'm eyeing the Lightphone. It's definitely more expensive than the old bricks, but way cheaper than the usual smartphone.<p><a href="https://www.thelightphone.com/home/" rel="nofollow">https://www.thelightphone.com/home/</a>
Phones are a real problem for people as they age or experience visual, auditory, motor-skills and cognitive decline.<p>For folks like that any kind of smartphone with "off-the-shelf" software is a non-starter-- too many options, too small, not tactile.<p>The problem with "dumb" flip-phones is that they tend to be small and slippery. An arthritic octogenarian will have a hard time even opening a flip phone.<p>The ones that are "designed" for old folks tend to be setup as "medical alert" devices-- a big red button on the back and all the drawbacks of a regular flip phone. They're more designed for paranoid family members than the actual users.<p>The phone I purchased for my octogenarian mother is an Alcatel "GO Flip". She has difficulty opening it and the buttons are too small. As a work around I programmed numbers "1","2","3","4" as a speed-dial to me and the rest as a speed dial to my brother. She knows to press "1" for me and "9" for my brother. I tell her to hold down the number until she sees my (or my brother's) picture. $75~ for the phone, $20/month for no-contract unlimited talk/text (she doesn't use text)-- that's it. That's the best I can do.
I don't have an answer (yet), but I am tracking on KaiOS[1] for a future replacement. Once there is some decent and accessible hardware behind it, I feel it may be my next 'upgrade'. There's the Nokia 8110[2] but it's not available to me yet.<p>[1]<a href="https://www.kaiostech.com/" rel="nofollow">https://www.kaiostech.com/</a><p>[2]<a href="https://www.nokia.com/en_int/phones/nokia-8110-4g" rel="nofollow">https://www.nokia.com/en_int/phones/nokia-8110-4g</a>
I got the Fsmart M5 off Amazon for $20 and is the size of a credit card.<p><a href="https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00UWT5DM4/" rel="nofollow">https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00UWT5DM4/</a><p>Works great on T-Mobile, with one exception: it cannot receive MMS, so you don't get notified if someone sends a photo or group text.
Samsung phones have a low power mode on everything from s5 and up that disables every function of the phone (every sensor and radio) except texting and calling and 4 apps of your choice. It's much smarter to just disable your current phone than to completely replace it with something inferior and harder to use like an old flipphone. Samsung also makes modern flip phones running Android that have all the same simplicity of being able to be closed and of course not having apps installed if you so choose.
If the reasons for a "dumbphone" are smaller size, longer battery life, decreased media consumption, and increased privacy – then such a tiny smartphone as Xperia XZ1 Compact[1] with AOSP ROM without Google provided by Sony[2] would still cut the mark.<p>[1] <a href="https://www.sonymobile.com/global-en/products/phones/xperia-xz1-compact/specifications/" rel="nofollow">https://www.sonymobile.com/global-en/products/phones/xperia-...</a><p>[2] <a href="https://developer.sony.com/file/download/software-binaries-for-aosp-oreo-android-8-1-kernel-4-4-yoshino/" rel="nofollow">https://developer.sony.com/file/download/software-binaries-f...</a>
Looking at the answers here, why is it so hard to get a cheap phone in the US?<p>Last week in Europe I got an unlocked Nokia 105 Dual Sim for $12. It's the dumbest phone but with 30(!) days stand-by time on a single charge.<p><i>edit</i>: added "unlocked"
My mom just recently got a Alcatel GO FLIP which is one of the first phones with KaiOS. I messed around with it a little and was very impressed by the OS. If you're wanting to get a dumbphone, but not go back 20 years in technological advancement, check out KaiOS phones.
I'm thinking about downgrading to a Blackberry Classic. Not quite a dumb phone, but from what I've seen it's much more of a <i>tool</i> than an entertainment/social-media/time-wasting device, which is exactly what I'm looking for. There's no way I could do without navigation, so I don't think anything more dumb will work for me.
I never switched. Still using my business class Nokia E72. It has a decent camera, sd card for storage, Opera browser for basic internet, HERE offline maps for navigation. And putty terminal for SSH connections to a remote system. Fits in my trouser pocket unlike the massive smartphones. I keep two spare ones in case it breaks. It broke once, i opened it up, cleaned the inside, put back together and it still works like new. Get them on second hand on ebay.
I’m gonna take a wild guess, based on my knowledge from about 10 years ago, that your best bet is going to be prepaid providers. Dunno what they’re doing nowadays, but I used to use a Tracfone Wireless phone, which cost $20–30 at Walmart for the hardware, and iirc about $60 per 120-minute card—although there were frequent promotions, so I acquired coupon codes for my family when I was in high school to help save money. The unfortunate thing was that it cost 0.3 minutes per SMS. Also the deal is that you have to buy minutes every so often to extend your service period. Anyway, if they’re still doing a “basic hardware” type option then that could be something to look into.
I haven’t tested this idea, but what about using a regular smartphone, and simply uninstall or not enable most of the features?<p>Don’t want to be distracted? Turn off notifications. Don’t want access to email? Don’t set up the email account.
The Zerophone is an interesting DIY dumbphone built on top of an RPi Zero. I've been considering getting one.<p><a href="https://wiki.zerophone.org/index.php/Main_Page" rel="nofollow">https://wiki.zerophone.org/index.php/Main_Page</a>
One option I've seen is the Nokia 3310 3G [1] for $60 in the US. I have it.<p>[1] <a href="https://www.nokia.com/en_us/phones/nokia-3310-3g" rel="nofollow">https://www.nokia.com/en_us/phones/nokia-3310-3g</a>
Verizon sells one they claim is LTE capable. Consumer Cellular has a couple of grandpa-friendly models. Or you could just get something like an Apple Watch 3 with LTE, which achieves a similar goal.
You need not buy a new phone. Some of the Samsung phones of the 2005-2006 era were my favorite, in terms of speed and menu design. They can be found on Ebay for <$10
I've been using this one for about 5 years <a href="https://www.amazon.com/LG-Xpression-2-Blue-AT/dp/B00J1SMJ06" rel="nofollow">https://www.amazon.com/LG-Xpression-2-Blue-AT/dp/B00J1SMJ06</a>.<p>The charge still lasts 3-4 days with a moderate amount of texting and it's built like a tank.<p>My only complaint is only allows you to save a couple hundred texts and then you need to clear it out but it does have a micro SD card that you can keep in to drastically improve that.<p>I'm not sure why it's so expensive now. When I got it, it was $25.<p>I'm sure you could find something better nowadays. That one was released 6-7 years ago according to Google.
I used an LTE-capable Kyocera DuraXE for several trips to the US. It was solidly built and worked as advertised.<p>I ended up getting rid of it because going back to T9 for texting was just too painful, and I'd rather have access to WhatsApp/Signal for messaging. It seems any LTE-capable feature phones are also using some custom version of Android without the ability to install apps, or generally get any updates, which makes me generally skeptical of their security.<p>Have switched to using a burner iPhone SE for travel.
Dumbphone is a pretty broad term, so you have to think of your requirements first. Does the phone need a color screen? Cellular internet/wifi? Multimedia? MMS? Basic apps?<p>While there aren't necessarily a lot of new "dumbphones" being advertised, this doesn't mean they don't exist in the market. You can pick a ton of such basic phones released over the last 10 years on Amazon/eBay for as little as $10-$25 which will do all of this and more (or less, if you like).
I bought a Cat B100 a few years ago. It's my second phone; the iPhone is still my primary, but there are times that it's better to have a dumbphone.<p>It's sold by Caterpillar, but actually built by Bullit Mobile, who specialize in rugged phones.<p>The B100 is completely waterproof, and very rugged. It's perfect when I'm going camping for the weekend, because it's safe in the elements, I can go days without charging the battery, and it's not distracting me from the world around me. It's still got Google Maps and can do SMS / MMS, so it's practical. The FM radio is surprisingly useful, too—something I'd forgotten about since it's not as common on phones anymore.<p>Sadly, it's been discontinued, but it's still pretty easy to find them for sale. I really love mine, I plan to keep using it as long as the cell networks still work with it.<p><a href="https://www.t3.com/reviews/cat-b100-review" rel="nofollow">https://www.t3.com/reviews/cat-b100-review</a>
<a href="https://www.nokia.com/en_int/phones/nokia-3310" rel="nofollow">https://www.nokia.com/en_int/phones/nokia-3310</a><p><a href="https://www.cnet.com/products/nokia-3310/review/" rel="nofollow">https://www.cnet.com/products/nokia-3310/review/</a><p>I got one of these for my Dad, and he loves it. He likes to garden and putter around in the work shop, and he hated that he always had to worry about keeping his hands clean in order to use the iPhone.<p>Now... if only there was a way to disable all texting, he'd be in bliss. A simple message to people, "I don't text, call me." Would be great for any phone, really. Some people hate texting.
I buy whatever smart phone walmart has for $35, prepaid. then I do not register it. I download skype and pay $2-3 a month for unlimited incoming and outgoing, and only use wifi. if I am traveling I turn on the prepaid, I think verizon was the last one. I think it was $10-25 per day or for something like 300 minutes<p>last year when we had a snow storm, the power went out. my UPC system ran my internet for about 4 hours I was able to turn on LTE data for the prepaid phone and I bought something like 5-10gb of data and watched movies, had internet, and lights off of my deep cycle batteries and solar until they were able to fix the power pole a week later
I use the Sonim XP5 with Verizon(also available for AT&T). It can be used as a wifi hotspot, has a music player, removable battery, expandable storage, bluetooth (connects to my truck just fine for calls, music and listening to messages. can respond to messages with canned responses). uses a stripped-down version of Android for its OS.<p><a href="https://www.androidheadlines.com/2017/07/sonim-xp5-verizons-4g-lte-equipped-rugged-basic-phone.html" rel="nofollow">https://www.androidheadlines.com/2017/07/sonim-xp5-verizons-...</a>
Nokia 3310 (in name and shape only) 3G? <a href="https://www.gsmarena.com/nokia_3310_3g-8876.php" rel="nofollow">https://www.gsmarena.com/nokia_3310_3g-8876.php</a>
Not exactly a dumbphone, but Unihertz makes extremely small phones <a href="https://www.unihertz.com/" rel="nofollow">https://www.unihertz.com/</a>
I don't want a dumb phone. I want a smartphone that allows me to toggle it into dumb phone mode with only phone, gps and messaging available. That way I can have best of both worlds.<p>I don't think either major OS maker will do that. Those silly tools they're coming up with for tracking your time are ridiculous and it's just to appease the smartphone addiction bad press.
Do NOT get the Nokia 3210 (2017) or any other phone running the S30+ OS:<p>- High input latency. Makes texting quite painful. I’m usually one or two button presses ahead of the display.<p>- Very limited storage capacity for texts. It seems to be some fixed limit and it won’t use free space useable by e.g. the camera.<p>- Terrible call quality.<p>I’m still using it because the phone has charm, but that’s the only redeeming quality in my opinion.
Have you checked out light phones? There's a light phone 2 in the works now:<p><a href="https://www.thelightphone.com/" rel="nofollow">https://www.thelightphone.com/</a><p><a href="https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/light-phone-2-design#/" rel="nofollow">https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/light-phone-2-design#/</a>
Is anybody aware of a dumbphone that has text entry by voice? I had to go to a featurephone a few years ago for a short time and found that going back to T9 style text entry was just too painful to make it a viable option for me.
HMD/Nokia recently launched the 3310. I was under the impression it would be available in the us too. (though I live in sweden so I didn't verify this)<p>Nokia is like the Apple of dumbphones, and the 3310 is the original iPhone!
It's funny that the solution to people's fears about commercialism interfering with the real world is to go out and buy another phone rather than use some self control over the stuff they already own.
I've used PuretalkUSA in the past. $20 a month and you can get a flip phone for $25.<p><a href="https://www.puretalkusa.com/" rel="nofollow">https://www.puretalkusa.com/</a>